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My reading material and video watching habits these past two weeks have brought me some incredible joy and happiness. Why? Because Najam Ahmad of Facebook is finally getting some credit for the amazing work that he has done and been doing in the world of Software Defined Networking. In my opinion Najam is a Force Majeure in the networking world. He is passionate. He is focused. He just gets things done. Najam and I worked very closely at Microsoft as we built out and managed the company’s global infrastructure. So closely in fact that we were frequently referred to as brothers from different mothers. Wherever Najam was-I was not far behind, and vice versa. We laughed. We cried. We fought. We had alot of fun while delivered some pretty serious stuff. To find out that he is behind the incredible Open Compute Project advances in Networking is not surprising at all. Always a forward thinking guy he has never been satisfied with the status quo.

If you have missed any of that coverage you I strongly encourage you to have a read at the links below.

This got me to thinking about the legacy of the Microsoft program on the Cloud and Infrastructure Industry at large. Data Center Knowledge had an article covering the impact of some of the Yahoo Alumni a few years ago. Many of those folks are friends of mine and deserve great credit. In fact, Tom Furlong now works side by side with Najam at Facebook. The purpose of my thoughts are not to take away from their achievements and impacts on the industry but rather to really highlight the impact of some of the amazing people and alumni from the Microsoft program. Its a long overdue acknowledgement of the legacy of that program and how it has been a real driving force in large scale infrastructure. The list of folks below is by no means comprehensive and doesnt talk about the talented people Microsoft maintains in their deep stable that continue to drive the innovative boundaries of our industry.

Christian Belady of Microsoft – Here we go, first person mentioned and I already blow my own rule. I know Christian is still there at Microsoft but its hard not to mention him as he is the public face of the program today. He was an innovative thinker before he joined the program at Microsoft and was a driving thought leader and thought provoker while I was there. While his industry level engagements have been greatly sidelined as he steers the program into the future – he continues to be someone willing to throw everything we know and accept today into the wind to explore new directions.

Najam Ahmad of Facbook – You thought I was done talking about this incredible guy? Not in the least, few people have solved network infrastructure problems at scale like Najam has. With his recent work on the OCP front finally coming to the fore, he continues to drive the capabilities of what is possible forward. I remember long meetings with Network vendors where Najam tried to influence capabilities and features with the box manufacturers within the paradigm of the time, and his work at Facebook is likely to end him up in a position where he is both loved and revilved by the Industry at large. If that doesn’t say your an industry heavy weight…nothing does.

James Hamilton of Amazon – There is no question that James continues to drive deep thinking in our industry. I remain an avid reader of his blog and follower of his talks. Back in my Microsoft days we would sit and argue philosophical issues around the approach to our growth, towards compute, towards just about everything. Those conversations either changed or strengthed my positions as the program evolved. His work in the industry while at Microsoft and beyond has continued to shape thinking around data centers, power, compute, networking and more.

Dan Costello of Google – Dan Costello now works at Google, but his impacts on the Generation 3 and Generation 4 data center approaches and the modular DC industry direction overall will be felt for a very long time to come whether Google goes that route or not. Incredibly well balanced in his approach between technology and business his ideas and talks continue to shape infrastructre at scale. I will spare people the story of how I hired him away from his previous employer but if you ever catch me at a conference, its a pretty funny story. Not to mention the fact that he is the second best break dancer in the Data Center Industry.

Nic Bustamonte of Google – Nic is another guy who has had some serious impact on the industry as it relates to innovating the running and operating of large scale facilities. His focus on the various aspects of the operating environments of large scale data centers, monioring, and internal technology has shifted the industry and really set the infancy for DCIM in motion. Yes, BMS systems have been around forever, and DCIM is the next interation and blending of that data, but his early work here has continued to influence thinking around the industry.

Arne Josefsberg of ServiceNow – Today Arne is the CTO of Service Now, and focusing on infrastructure and management for enterprises to the big players alike and if their overall success is any measure, he continues to impact the industry through results. He is *THE* guy who had the foresight of building an organiation to adapt to this growing change of building and operating at scale. He the is the architect of building an amazing team that would eventually change the industry.

Joel Stone of Savvis/CenturyLink – Previously the guy who ran global operations for Microsoft, he has continued to drive excellence in Operations at Global Switch and now at Savvis. An early adopter and implmenter of blending facilities and IT organizations he mastered issues a decade ago that most companies are still struggling with today.

Sean Farney of Ubiquity – Truly the first Data center professional who ever had to productize and operationalize data center containers at scale. Sean has recently taken on the challenge of diversifying data center site selection and placement at Ubquity repurposing old neighorbood retail spaces (Sears, etc) in the industry. Given the general challenges of finding places with a confluence of large scale power and network, this approach may prove to be quite interesting as markets continue to drive demand.

Chris Brown of Opscode – One of the chief automation architects at my time at Microsoft, he has moved on to become the CTO of Opscode. Everyone on the planet who is adopting and embracing a DevOps has heard of, and is probably using, Chef. In fact if you are doing any kind of automation at large scale you are likely using his code.

None of these people would be comfortable with the attention but I do feel credit should be given to these amazing individuals who are changing our industry every day. I am so very proud to have worked the trenches with these people. Life is always better when you are surrounded by those who challenge and support you and in my opinion these folks have taken it to the next level.

Yahoo may have just sent a cold chill across the data center industry at large and begun a stifling of data center innovation. In a May 3, 2012 article, Forbes did a quick and dirty analysis on the patent wars between Facebook and Yahoo. It’s a quick read but shines an interesting light on the potential impact something like this can have across the industry. The article, found here, highlights that :

In a new disclosure, Facebook added in the latest version of the filing that on April 23 Yahoo sent a letter to Facebook indicating that Yahoo believes it holds 16 patents that “may be relevant” to open source technology Yahoo asserts is being used in Facebook’s data centers and servers.

While these types of patent infringement cases happen all the time in the Corporate world, this one could have far greater ramifications on an industry that has only recently emerged into the light of sharing of ideas. While details remain sketchy at the time of this writing, its clear that the specific call out of data center and servers is an allusion to more than just server technology or applications running in their facilities. In fact, there is a specific call out of data centers and infrastructure.

With this revelation one has to wonder about its impact on the Open Compute Project which is being led by Facebook. It leads to some interesting questions. Has their effort to be more open in their designs and approaches to data center operations and design led them to a position of risk and exposure legally? Will this open the flood gates for design firms to become more aggressive around functionality designed into their buildings? Could companies use their patents to freeze competitors out of colocation facilities in certain markets by threatening colo providers with these types of lawsuits? Perhaps I am reaching a bit but I never underestimate litigious fervor once the proverbial blood gets in the water.

In my own estimation, there is a ton of “prior art”, to use an intellectual property term, out there to settle this down long term, but the question remains – will firms go through that lengthy process to prove it out or opt to re-enter their shells of secrecy?

After almost a decade of fighting to open up the collective industry to share technologies, designs, and techniques this is a very disheartening move. The general Glasnost that has descended over the industry has led to real and material change for the industry.

We have seen the mental shift of companies move from measuring facilities purely around “Up Time” measurements to one that is primarily more focused around efficiency as well. We have seen more willingness to share best practices and find like minded firms to share in innovation. One has to wonder, will this impact the larger “greening” of data centers in general. Without that kind of pressure – will people move back to what is comfortable?

Time will certainly tell. I was going to make a joke about the fact that until time proves out I may have to “lawyer” up just to be safe. Its not really a joke however because I’m going to bet other firms do something similar and that, my dear friends, is how the innovation will start to freeze.